RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
CURRENT ISSUES IN CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT AND
EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES
Somboon Prasopnetr*
I. PRISON OVERCROWDING
Prison overcrowding is one of the major
issues currently faced by many countries
in Asia and Pacific region. In Thailand,
for example, nearly 200,000 inmates are
in prisons with a total capacity of only
80,000 persons. A sharp rise in the inmate
population occurred between 1996 and
1999 when numbers doubled from 100,000
to 200,000. Among today’s inmates, 25
percent or 51,039 inmates are involved in
court processes or petitioning appeals.
Another 11 percent are detained during the
course of police investigations. Among the
convicted inmates, 30 percent committed
light offenses and have sentences of not
more than two years. Other countries in
Asia also have the same prison
overcrowding problem, but may be
different on the degree of seriousness. In
some countries in the Caribbean Sea, the
number of prisoners rose over 200 percent
while the number of those in Western
Europe is over 120 percent in recent years.
Problems as a result of prison
overcrowding have been numerous. Prison
overcrowding not only causes lack of space
and facilities to accommodate prisoners,
but also a host of other problems for prison
administration. It causes strain on staff
and effective administration. It impedes
the vocational training and other
correctional programmes. In some places,
inmates have to wait upwards for three
months on a waiting list to be admitted into
educational or vocational programs
because the number of inmates is too great.
In many prisons, many inmates are
unemployed and have nothing to do.
Proper classification and separation
cannot be practicable in an overcrowding
prison. If classification is to work properly,
there must be some spare capacity in a
prison so that inmates may be allocated
according to their security rating and their
treatment needs. Thus, under the
overcrowding conditions it is impossible to
implement any effective ways of
rehabilitation of inmates. The job of just
keeping large number of inmates in prison
is in itself occupies all the prison officers’
time and energy. Furthermore, the wide
spread of contagious diseases in such
circumstance is inevitable and the U.N.
Standard Minimum Rules cannot be
applied. These lead to the violation of
human rights and dignities.
Prison overcrowding also causes tension
and stress among inmates. There are many
research studies supporting this notion.
Mccain et.al1, for example, indicated that
high degrees of sustained crowding have a
wide variety of negative psychological and
physiological effects, including increased
illness complaint rates, higher death and
suicide rates and higher disciplinary
infraction rates. Nacci et.al2 also revealed
that high density is associated with high
rates of assaultiveness with the
relationship being strongest in institutions
housing young adults.
1
* Deputy Director-General, Department of
Corrections, Thailand.
314
Q. Mccain, V.C. Cox and P Panlus, Effect of Prison
Crowding on Inmate Behavior, University of Texas,
1980.
115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
The causes of prison overcrowding is
complicated and varies from nation to
nation. The fact is that more people have
been sentenced to imprisonment but there
are not enough places in prison. This has
resulted in prison overcrowding. The
enormous number of people admitted to
prison may be the result of an increase in
crime, war on drugs, effective police and
prosecution operation, and tougher
sentencing. In some countries there is an
unjustifiably large number of crime
categories, such as drugs, in the criminal
law for which long term imprisonment is a
form of punishment. Thus, 60 percept of
the inmates population may be sentenced
for drugs related offenses. Moreover, the
insufficient use of alternative forms of
punishment which could be applied instead
of imprisonment is another factor. In some
countries, if such measures have been
implemented, most judges still look toward
punitive forms of punishment by using
imprisonment.
In the United Kingdom and the United
States of America, many non - custodial
measures or alternatives to imprisonment
have been widely used, the details of which
are as follows:
1. Absolute and Conditional Discharge.
This measure will be used for those
who do not deserve to be punished or
to be put under probation. For
conditional discharge, the offender
must not violate the conditions fixed
by the court for not more than 3 years.
2. Binding Over. Instead of punishment
the court may order the offenders to
make a contract with a fixed amount
of money which will be forfeited in
case they do not come to court on the
appointment.
2
P. Nacci, H. Teitelbeaum and J. Prather, Violence
in Federal Prisons: The Effect of Population Density
on Misconduct, National Institute of Justice, 1977
3. Fines. This is another measure of
punishment which the court can use
instead of imprisonment when it is
deemed fit.
4. Probation. Under this measure, the
offenders will be released but they,
have to follow the conditions fixed by
the court and must be under the
supervision of probation officers for
not less than 1 year and not more
than 3 years.
5. S u s p e n d e d S e n t e n c e s o f
Imprisonment. In case the court will
imprison the offenders for not more
than 2 years, suspended sentences of
imprisonment may be used from 1 3 years.
6. Commital to the Care of a Fit Person,
In case the offender is less than 17
years, the court may commit him to
the care of a person who is deemed
fit until he is 18 years old in order to
avoid the bad environment which he
is confronting.
7. Remission and Release on Licence or
Parole. For those who are imprisoned
for more than 1 month (except those
who serve life sentences) they will be
eligible for release after 2/3 years of
their sentences have been served.
Parole may also be granted by the
Parole Board to those who have
already served 1/3 of their sentences.
But for those who serve life sentences,
the Minister of Home Office is
empowered to grant parole after
discussing with the Lord Chief
Justice, the judge who considers the
case and the Parole Board.3
8. Community Service. This measure
generally involves public service for
nonprofit organisations. It usually
involves the performance of unpaid
315
RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
labor by the offender in an attempt
to pay a debt to society, with
assignments ranging from cleaning
litter from roadsides and performing
lawn maintenance on government
facilities, to janitorial work in
churches or schools, to building parks
and playgrounds, reparing public
housing and serving as a volunteer
in a hospital or rehab center. The
communities undoubtedly benefit
from the thousands of hours of free
labor, and the city government saves
money by not having to jail some
offenders.
9. House Arrest, Home Confinement or
Home Detention. This measure
requires the offender to remain
within the confines of the home
during specified times and to adhere
to a strict curfew. Additional
conditions, such as restrictions on
visitors and the prohibition of drugs
or alcohol use may also be stipulated.
The offender is normally allowed to
leave only for work and reasons such
as grocery shopping, community
service assignment and doctor
appointments. However, the success
of house arrest programs has been
bolstered by the use of electronic
monitoring devices which will
enhance the level of supervision
directed toward each offender.
Electronic monitoring uses telemetry
devices to keep track of an offender’s
whereabouts.
10.Day Reporting Centers. These are
non-residential locations at which
offenders must appear, daily to
participate in programed activities
3
Home Office The Sentence of the Court: A Handbook
of Courts on the Treatment of Offenders, (Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1978) p.p. 926 and p.p. 38-54
316
and to work out a schedule detailing
their activities outside the center.
Offenders are also required to
maintain frequent phone
communications with center staff and
to submit to random drug and alcohol
testing.
11.Residential Community Corrections.
These include halfway houses, prerelease centers, work furlough and
community work centers, community
treatment centers and restitution
centers. Residents may live either
part-time or full-time at such centers,
depending on other conditions set
forth by the court. These types of
centers may be used as an alternative
to sending an offender to jail or prison
or may be a transitional stop for
offenders just released from
incarceration, to determine if they are
ready to return to society.4
Apart from the lack of front-end options
such as probation suspensions of
prosecution and other forms of alternatives
to incarceration, the lack of back-end
options such as parole, pardon or sentence
remission is also another factor for prison
overcrowding. The insufficiency or the lack
of back-end option to release inmates from
prisons may be due to limited opportunity
for early release or release on bail, or
substituting imprisonment for a more
lenient punishment. In Thailand, for
example, there are many restrictions for
parole application especially for those who
are drug traffickers. Royal Pardon cannot
be implemented as frequently as it used to
be. Part of the factors for this restriction
is the hardening attitude of the public
including criminal justice personnel
4
Norman A. Carlson, Karen M. Hess and Christine
M. H. Orthman Corrections in the 21st Century: A
Practical Approach, (An International Thompson
Publishing Company, U.S.A., 1999) p.p. 157-163
115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
towards crimes and offenders which is
reflected in the demands for the use of more
harsh punishment.
The most easy solution to prison
overcrowding is obviously to build more
prisons, but it is very expensive and is not
the right way to solve the problem.
However, many countries use this method
by building more prisons year by year.
Some countries may use similar methods
by converting unused facilities or
expanding current prisons in order to have
more capacity. It is not surprising that
more and more prisons have been built in
Asia and the Pacific for the past decade.
This solution presupposes the notion that
the institutional treatment of inmates is
the only effective measure to solve the
crime problem. But it has been long proved
that this is not true. The more we built
new prisons, the more imprisonment will
be used. In order to alleviate the problem,
more alternatives to incarceration must be
used, especially for those who are first time
offenders or commit minor offences.
Moreover, bail should be granted more for
unconvicted offenders and imprisonment
must be used as the last resort and for those
who are habitual or professional criminals
only.
2. Improve access to, and
co - ordination within, the
criminal justice system
Increasing public access to the police,
courts and prisons engenders public
confidence and transparency. Coordinating and streamlining the work of
the criminal justice agencies assists both
efficiency and compliance with
international human rights standards.
3. Invest in crime prevention and
crime reduction
Problem solving partnerships between
the police, other public agencies, businesses
and communities can produce effective
plans to reduce the risk factors which lie
behind much crime drug misuse, family
difficulties, school failure, unemployment.
4. Divert minor cases from the
criminal justice system
Many cases can be effectively dealt with
outside the formal criminal justice system.
5. Reduce pre-trial detention
In some countries as many as 75% of the
prison population may be awaiting trial.
Alternatives such as bail and regular
reviews of cases can reduce pre - trial
detention.
At the Tenth United Nations Congress
on the Prevention of Crime and the
Treatment of Offenders in Vienna on April
2000, the Penal Reform International
Organisation introduced a 10 point plan to
reduce imprisonment. These points were
as follows:
6. Develop constructive alternatives
to custodial sentences
Courts need sentencing options that are
effective and not just a ‘soft option’: without
alternatives, imprisonment as a
punishment of ‘last resort’ becomes
commonplace.
1. Inform public opinion
Increasing use of imprisonment is often
blamed on public demand for punishment.
Yet the public are often misinformed about
how the system operates and will support
effective non-custodial measures.
7. Reduce sentence lengths and
ensure consistent sentencing
practice
Sentencers need guidance to deter
inconsistent sentencing practices.
317
RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
8. Develop, special arrangements
for youth offenders that keep
them out of prison
Children in conflict with the law (under
18) should be diverted from the criminal
justice process. A term of imprisonment
should be strictly a measure of resort and
for the shortest appropriate period of time.
9. Treat rather than punish drug
addicts and mentally disordered
offenders
Courts should be able to order treatment
for those whose crimes are often committed
to feed their addiction. Prison is not a
suitable institution for mentally ill people.
10. Ensure the system is fair to all
Imprisonment
impacts
disproportionately on the poor, the
dispossessed and minorities who face
discrimination outside. Monitoring should
take place at every stage of the criminal
justice system to ensure that
discrimination does not take place and that
the efforts to reduce imprisonment
suggested in this plan are made in respect
of all members of the community.
In my opinion, the first recommendation
on informing public opinion is very
important. The public’s demand for harsh
punishment leads to longer sentences
imposed by the courts and opposition to any
kind of leniency in punishment. Thus,
imforming the public about the advantages
of non-custodial measures is necessary.
However, recommendations concerning cooperation from, the courts to reduce pretrial detention and to use more alternatives
to prisons may long be expected in some
developing countries. On the other hand,
a law is needed to provide sentencing
options for non-custodial measures and to
require judges to use such alternatives
unless there is an exception according to
the law. Short term sentences should not
be allowed to be imposed on inmates, rather
318
probation or other measures of community
- based corrections should be implemented.
In sum, the problem of prison
overcrowding can only be alleviated by
using more alternative measures to
incarceration especially for those who are
not habitual or professional criminals.
Building more prisons is not an answer to
the problem. In this connection, the
amendment of the law to require judges to
use such alternatives in case there is no
exception is necessary especially in some
countries where judges are prone to use
only imprisonment as a main measure of
punishment. Furthermore, making the
courts responsible for speedy trial and
expanding various forms of alternatives to
imprisonment is also recommended.
Lastly, the public should be well informed
of the disadvantages of short-term sentence
which will have bad effects on the offender
rather than good ones. He has to lose his
job, social status and family. Morever, he
may have the tendency to commit more
crimes in the future as a result of having
an opportunity to learn the criminal career
from his friends during incarceration. In
this connection, the public should be
informed of the advantages of communitybased correction which have lower costs
than incarceration while the offender’s
work, social status and family are not
contaminated. This will reduce the public
attitude of using only imprisonment in
some countries.
II. IMPROVEMENT OF PRISON
CONDITIONS
It is recognized that inmates are human
beings and they deserve to be treated with
dignity and respect so that they can be
resocialized to become more responsible
people. In this respect, the improvement
of prison conditions is very important for
the rehabilitation process of the inmates.
Overcrowding, lack of hygiene, un-sanitary
115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
conditions, HIV and other infectious
diseases, should not prevail in the prison.
Inmates should be ensured the adequacy
of medical and other services should be the
same as outside including living condition.
Furthermore, they should be provided with
individual assistance and opportunities to
develop their own potential with a view to
reintegrate as normal citizens. Therefore,
contacts with the outside world are an
essential part of their reintegration into
society.
Many countries in Asia and Pacific
Region are now confronted with the issue
of prison conditions. Prisons in these
countries have been built for many years
and usually are overcrowded. Thus, prison
conditions in many countries in this region
continue, to fall short of the United Nations
and other acceptable standards. These
problems are the main obstacles of the
fulfillment of the Standards.
The United Nations Standard Minimum
Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
constitute a landmark in the process of
prison condition reform. They have had a
significant impact on the law and practices
of many countries in the regions. However,
there are some problems related to the
implementation of the U. N. Rules.
The major problem is overcrowding.
Prisons in Asia, in general are overcrowded.
This issue directly affects the prison
condition and the implementation of the
U.N. Rules. When more people are being
sentenced to imprisonment accompanied
by a decrease in the number of places in
prison, the result is prison overcrowding
and a deterioration in living conditions in
prisons. Overcrowding may contribute to
higher levels of violence and increase
spread of illness such as AIDS,
Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
Classification of prisoners cannot be
carried on because there are no places to
segregate them. This problem also affects
both institutional management and official
satisfaction. Thus, under these
circumstances any standards cannot be
applied.
The social context is also important. For
example, prison officials are generally
affected by the public, social and political
attitude. Particularly in the developing
countries where aggressive feeling still
prevails in the community, the group of old
and unprogressive prison staff are mostly
affected. It is impossible to pension them
off and to recruit young progressive ones.
The idea of arranging training courses for
the old guards to assume new roles in
progressive prison administration is found
uneffective. Therefore, the aim to promote
progressive treatment following the
Standard Minimum Rules will need a
rather long time to achieve. The
administrators of prisons have to accept
means of gradually helping old staff to
pension off sooner and to replace them with
new young progressive recruits.
Related to the problem of overcrowding
is the lack of financial resources of many
countries to upgrade the prison conditions.
The lack of financial resources to build a
new and modern prison to replace the old
one. There is also a lack of funds to
facilitate the implementation of modern
correctional programs.
The fourth problem is the
implementation of the U.N. Rules which
may be too expensive. In many countries,
not all of the Rules are applicable in all
places and at all times because of the great
variety of legal, cultural, geographical
conditions and wealth. It seems to me that,
if the Rules are too expensive, it is difficult
for the poor countries to implement. In
these countries the U.N. Rules may be
overlooked owing to the shortage of budget
to improve the living standards of inmates
319
RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
and also to build standard prisons. Under
this circumstance, the implementation of
any standard rules cannot be expected.
Prison is only the place to detain criminals
while deteriorated living conditions are
neglected.
The most important problem for the U.N.
Rules implementation is the lack of
mechanisms to encourage and enforce
country members to follow. It has only
paper - based reporting mechanisms which
are not effective. Thus, every country
should be encouraged to have supervisory
mechanisms and regular inspection at
national and local levels. Such
mechanisms should be used by both
governmental and non - governmental
organizations.
From my conclusions, prison conditions
are very important for prisoners’
rehabilitation and human rights. They
should be treated as normal persons, so
their living conditions must not be different
from those outside. To achieve the
objective, many problems have to be
eradicated.
1. The problem of prison overcrowding
must be solved by using more non custodial measures or alternatives to
imprisonment or community - based
corrections especially for those who
are not habitual or professional
criminals.
2. The U.N. Standard Minimum Rules
for the Treatment of Prisoners and
Related Recommendations and other
Standards should be trained to all
prison staff including the
administrators and the new recruits
in order to gain cooperation for the
implementation as much as possible.
3. The improvement of prison conditions
should be regarded by the
320
Government of each country as a
major problem of development, In
this connection, financial support
should be granted to the concerned
organisations for such matters. In
most developing countries, prison or
correctional work has been neglected
or regarded by the Government as
least important. This will surely
impede the improvement of prison
conditions since the budget will not
be allocated.
4. Since the U.N. or other standards
may not be suitable for all countries
according to the difference in legal,
cultural, geographical conditions and
wealth as having been stated above,
all countries should have their own
suitable standards by using the U.N.
and other standards as the
framework. In fact, we cannot deny
that there is no unique standards
which can be used by all countries in
the world.
5. I n o r d e r t o e n s u r e t h e
implementation of such standards or
the improvement of prison conditions,
all countries should be encouraged to
have supervisory mechanisms and
regular inspection by both
governmental and non-governmental
organisations at national and local
level. The inspection organisations
should be independent and can
inspect at all times without informing
beforehand. After the inspection, a
report should be submitted to the
related organisations for their
remedies. Opening prisons to
inspection and outside scrutiny
promotes transparency and
accountability and so better ensures
that prison rules are put into practice
and that prisons are safer places for
all concerned.
115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
III. FOREIGN PRISONERS AND
PRISONER TRANSFER TREATIES
Foreign prisoners incarcerated in other
countries, is now becoming one of the most
crucial issues facing correctional
administrators all over the world. The
increasing tourism industry, migrating for
job opportunities, and the changing
economic and political regime have
increased the number of people travelling
and working abroad. As a result, the
numbers of people involved in crime related
to drugs, illegal entry, credit card fraud etc.,
have increased sharply. These offenders
are arrested and incarcerated abroad and
have to face cultural differences as well as
unfamiliar food and living conditions in
foreign prisons. Moreover, they frequently
face the difficulties in communication with
prison officers and other prisoners as well
as lack of qualified lawyers and inadequate
medical care. Foreign prisoners, on the
other hand, cause economic and
administrative burdens for prison
administrations in many countries.
One of the most effective methods to
solve the problem of foreign prisoners is the
prisoner transfer treaty. Although the
treaty itself does very little in solving the
problem of prisoners while they are in
foreign countries, it does allow these
prisoners to return home to serve the rest
to their sentences. At present, there are
many countries engaged in these treaties,
both by multilateral and bilateral treaties.
A. Multilateral Treaties
For multilateral treaties, a group of
countries join together to make an
agreement on transfer of prisoners. They
agree to follow the same conditions and
procedures. There are many groups of
countries participating in multilateral
treaties on transfer of prisoners. The
Council of Europe Prisoner Transfer Treaty
is an example. It has many countries, not
exclusively for members of European
states, that participate. The Organization
of American States (OAS) Prisoner
Transfer Treaty is another example that
involves all countries in the North and
South American continent. This treaty is
different from other treaties in that the
initial request for transfer can be started
by either the sentencing state, or by the
administering state.
The oldest cooperation in the
enforcement of foreign penal judgement
was among Arab countries. However,
prisoner transfer treaties among them
entered into force in 1985.
The Arab prisoner transfer treaty does
not require the consent of the sentenced
person for this transfer. The transfer is
allowed if the following conditions are met;
a) the sanction imposed involves
deprivation of liberty, the minimum
term of which, to be served is no less
than six months;
b) the penalty has been imposed for an
offence for which extradition may not
be granted;
c) the offence is punishable in the
prisoner ’s home country with
imprisonment of no less than six
months;
d) both the sentencing and enforcing
states agree to the transfer5
Perhaps the biggest number of countries
involved in prisoner transfer treaties is the
prisoner transfer treaty of the British
Commonwealth countries. This treaty
links upwards of 35 countries in all parts
of the world. The prisoner transfer treaty
among African countries involves 15
countries. Although the treaty provides for
the extradition of both accused and
5
Richard D. Atkins (ed) Prisoner Transfer Treaties:
A Practical Guide, International Legal Defense
Counsel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A. 1995
321
RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
convicted offenders, it is also applied to the
transfer of prisoners.
B. Bilateral Treaties
In case there is no available multilateral
treaty, individual countries have to
approach other countries for negotiating
bilateral treaties. Thus, conditions and
procedures for transferring prisoners of
each country may differ from another
treaty depending on the negotiation of the
parties. Thailand, for example, has
negotiated separate treaties with many
countries. Each treaty is unique. The first
treaty of prisoner transfer between
Thailand and the U.S.A., was signed on
October 29, 1982 and became effective
afterwards. Today, Thailand has already
signed treaties with many countries. The
treaties that have been ratified and come
into effect are the treaties with these
respective countries:
France
; effective in 1985.
Spain
; effective in 1987.
Canada
; effective in 1988.
United States
of America
; effective in 1988.
Italy
; effective in 1990.
Sweden
; effective in 1990.
Great Britain ; effective in 1991.
Finland
; effective in 1992.
Portugal
; effective in 1994.
Austria
; effective in 1994.
Germany
; effective in 1996,
Poland
; effective in 1999.
Denmark
; effective in 2000.
To d a t e , 2 3 0 f o r e i g n p r i s o n e r s
incarcerated in Thai prisons were
transferred to their home land, and 5 Thai
prisoners were transferred back to carry
out their sentences in Thailand.
According to the Thai Legislation of
Procedure for Cooperation between States
in the Execution on Penal Sentences. B.E.
2527 (1984), the general principle of
322
prisoner transfer is based on:
1. A person sentenced in the territory
of one party may be transferred to the
territory of another party.
2. A transfer of prisoners should be
effected in cases where the offense
giving rise to conviction is punishable
by deprivation of liberty by the
judicial authorities of both the
transferring state and receiving
state.
3. The offender is not sentenced in
respect of an offense under the law
of Thailand:
3.1 against the internal or external
security of the state;
3.2 against the monarch, his consort
or his sons or daughters; or
3.3 against legislation protecting
national art treasures.
4. The sentence imposed on the offender
is one of imprisonment, confinement
or any other form of deprivation of
liberty in any institution.
4.1 for life;
4.2 for an indeterminate period on
account of mental incapacity, or;
4.3 for a fixed period of which at least
one year remains to be served at
the time of the request for
transfer.
5. The offender has served in the
transferring state any minimum
period of imprisonment, confinement
or deprivation of liberty stipulated by
the law of the transferring state; (For
life sentences, he has to serve 8 years
and for other sentences, he has to
serve 4 years)
6. The judgment is final and no further
legal proceeding relating to the
offense or any offense is pending in
the transferring state;
7. The transferring and receiving states
and the offender all agree to the
transfer. In transfering the prisoner,
all expenses will be met by the
receiving state.
115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
C. Problem of Prisoner Transfer
Treaties
There are many advantages of prisoner
transfer treaties. First, they facilitate the
social reintegration of the prisoner by
permitting persons convicted of a crime in
one country to return to complete their
sentence in their familiar living and
cultural conditions. Prisoner transfer
treaties also remove an economic and
administrative burden for prisons in many
countries. Taking care of foreign prisoners
causes a lot of prison administration
problems in term of communication with
prisoners and provision of food and medical
care. Prisoner transfer treaties, however,
have some difficulties in implementing.
This is due to the difference between the
law and penal sanctions of the participated
countries. Some sentencing states, for
example, may have severe punishment for
drug offences while the administering state
has less severe punishments. In such
cases, prisoners may be transferred to
administering countries just simply to be
released earlier because the receiving state
is empowered to enforce the rest of the
sentence according to its law. For example,
a prisoner in the U.S.A. will be eligible for
parole after 1/3 of his sentence has been
served while in Thailand he has to serve
2/3 of his sentence. In another case,
prisoners were transferred to convert the
sentence term in court of the administering
countries. The Council of Europe suggests
that if the sentence imposed was longer
than or different in nature from the
sentence which could be imposed for the
same offence in the home country, it would
be adapted to the nearest equivalent
sentence which was available under the
law in the home country without being
longer or more severe than the original
sentence. Two potential difficulties can be
seen with this approach. Firstly, the
foreign prisoner will not know the length
of his sentence until transfer and therefore
may find it difficult to decide whether or
not to apply. Secondly, it is probable that
in some cases the period already served in
the foreign country will be equal to or
greater than the converted sentence in the
home country with the result that the
transferred prisoner would be immediately
released. This is likely to undermine
confidence in the integrity of the transfer
scheme and may even be seen as
interfering with, or criticising, the criminal
justice system of another country.6 While
there are some difficulties related to the
implementation of the treaties, prisoner
transfer treaties bring about international
cooperation and understanding and should
be promoted to expand to countries
worldwide.
Bibliography
1. Australian Institute of Criminology,
Trends and Issues in Crime and
Criminal Justice, Canberra, 1992.
2. Home Office, The Sentence of the
Court: A Handbook of Courts on the
Treatment of Offenders, (Her Majesty’s
Stationary Office, London, 1978)
3. Norman A. Carlson, Karen M. Hess and
Christine M.H. Orthman, Corrections
in the 21 st Century: A Practical
Approach, (An International Thomson
Publishing Company, U.S.A., 1999)
4. P. Nacci. H. Teitelbeaum and J. Prather,
Violence in Federal Prisons: The Effect
of Population Density on Misconduct,
(National Institute of Justice, U.S.A.,
1997)
5. Q. Mccain, V.C. Cox and P. Paneus,
Effect of Prison Overcrowding on
Inmate Behavior, (University of Texas,
1980)
6. Richard D. Atkins (ed.), Prisoner
Transfer Treaties: A Practical Guide,
(International Defense Counsel,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,
1955)
6
Australian Institute of Criminology, Trends and
Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, Canberra,
1992 p.p. 3-4
323